Electrical wiring help needed please

So I have created a nightmare for myself trying to simplify my electronics situation.
First off, I have my 2 graphs hard wired to the batteries so no issues there. I took out the Lowrance Sonic Hub and docking station. I then tried to convert my Lowrance Structure Scan box from “Accessory #3” to Splice into one of my graphs so it turns on and off at the head unit and not the accessory switch.
Since then, I have lost power to my keypad which controls Livewells, bilge pumps, horn, etc. No power up to the keypad up on the bow either. Motor turns over, Power Tilt & trim works, Obviously because they are wired separately to the battery as well. I have a buss panel up underneath the dash which I believe has something to do with the accessories, I also have 3 open butt positive wires available for additional accessories to be installed. (That’s at least how I understand them to be.
Cranking battery was completely dead after I tried to splice in the Structure scan box to the head unit at the console. All lights were lit up on the keypad as I started to bring the cranking battery back to life with the on board charger. On board charger was connected the whole time and the cranking battery still went dead so i must have wired something wrong. The further I dig, the worse it gets. Before I make things worse, I’m looking for some advice or a recommended contact to bring the boat to. I’m just South of the MN border but willing to bring it to wherever to get this right.

Thanks for reading this long explanation and appreciate any info.

Some questions that might help with the troubleshoting:

1) What is the year, make and model of your boat?

2) When you state “Splice into one of my graphs so it turns on and off at the head unit and not the accessory switch.”, can you provide some more detail on exactly what you did? The head unit and the structurescan module have yellow wires that can be tied together (separate from the red and black power wires) such that the SC unit will power up when you turn on the head unit. When the SC was wired to the ACC #3, was the yellow or red wire connected to the switch? Did you tie the yellow wires together and/or did you tie the red wires together. If you tied the red wires together without using the yellow wires, it is possible that the SC is staying on all the time and draining the battery.

3) When you state “Cranking battery was completely dead after I tried to splice in the Structure scan box to the head unit at the console.” How long did it take for the battery to die (e.g., minutes?, hours?, days?)

1. 2001 Ranger 619 VS Fisherman

2. I tied the red and yellow wires from the head unit,Sonic Hub, and the Structure Scan all together into 1. I’m not sure how the Structure Scan was wired to ACC.3 honestly. I believe the black negative wire connected to the ground of one of the buss spades, and the red positive was connected to one of the open butt red wires. The yellow wasn’t connected if I recall.

3. I’m not sure how long or quick it drained. It was 6 days before I had a chance to work on things again, but I did have the onboard charger plugged in the whole week in between working on it. FYI, I recently installed a new on board charger as well but feel pretty confident I did that correctly.

I would start by separating the red and yellow wires. I think what is happening, since you have the head units tied directly to power vs thru a switch, the SC unit is staying powered all the time. With the the red and yellow wires separated, the SC unit will have primary power any time there is primary power to the head unit. Note: in this case having primary power does not mean either unit will actually be on. Then when you power up the head unit, it will put voltage on the yellow wire. With power on the yellow wire the SC unit will actually turn on. Think of the yellow wire as a remote power on control – similar to how your TV is always plugged in but does not turn on until the power button on the remote is pressed.

Page 15 of the SonicHub install manual shows two different ways to power the unit. The top figure is how I think you have it currently wired and the bottom is how I am suggesting to wire the system. https://softwaredownloads.navico.com/Lowrance/FTP/Lowrance_Software%20-%20Copy/Documents/SonicHub_Low_IM_EN_988-0183-02_A.pdf

Thalweg87
Thanks for your advice
I will start with your suggestions. I did pull the sonic hub out as I wanted to go with a marine stereo instead. But before I consider doing that, I want to get these other issues fixed first. Can I pm you with additional questions? I still have a big issue with not having power to the keypad at the console and the bow which all are related to me unplugging and clipping wires out from underneath the console and didn’t do a good job in retracing my steps.
I also see your in Eastern IA. Where at? I’m in Lake Mills IA.

Do i keep the red wires separate from each unit, or can I tie those together? IE: red from HDS head unit tied to red from Structure scan unit, both tied to each other and then on to one red power source wire? Then I understand tying the yellows together separately away from the reds.

Yes, feel free to PM me. Sometimes I have issues logging in so I may not see the PM right away. I will keep my eyes open.

In the mean time —

1) Have you verified that the main breaker did not trip? That breaker supplies power to the computer box which then provides power to the keypads.

2) From the schematic there appears to only be 4 wires going from the computer box to each of the keypads:

White/Black = ground
Orange = +12V power
Yellow = Data Transmit/Receive +
Yellow = Data Transmit/Receive +
Blue = Data Transmit/Receive –

Since the panels are not powering up I would suggest seeing if there is a fuse blown (schematic indicates there is a 5 amp fuse for the orange wire but it does not show the fuse panel) or if you disconnected the white/black and/or orange wires.

I am near Center Point.

You can tie the red wires together assuming the wire from the battery is large enough to handle the total current. If you have issues with units blanking out/restarting when you start the engine you may need to take a different approach. Also, depending on the size of the fuse you have on the wire by the battery, you may end up blowing fuses. You may be able to run a bigger fuse but will have to make sure the fuse rating does not exceed the wire rating. Do you recall the size of wire you ran from the battery? How big of fuse do you have now?

Ok Thalweg! We have progress.
The Structurescan box powers up upon powering up the HDS unit that I tied it in to. Yellow to Yellow and red to red to red power.
And you were right about tripping the main breaker switch. Once I rest that, the key pad would work but trips the switch after hitting certain buttons. I reset it, and a button may work but then i’ll press a second button and it will trip the breaker switch again. Wondering if I have a breaker switch going bad or something else going on? The breaker switches are original so they are 20 years old…
3 amp fuses are what I run for the head unit and the Structurescan.
I’m not sure of the size of the gauge wire but its the same size or slightly larger than what comes off the power cord of the HDS unit and Structure scan power cord.

Glad to hear you have made progress. When you say “key pad would work but trips the switch after hitting certain buttons” , is it repeatable such that it only happens with a specific button pressed (e.g., livewell) or only happens after 2 or three buttons are pressed no matter what they are?

The terminal boards you mentioned in your initial post have both power and ground terminals depending on the terminal board. Did you happen to move wires on any of the terminal boards?

What did you do with the wire that was originally connected to the Accessory #3 wire? I am assuming you cut the wire and then taped the Accessory #3 end?

Not related to the fuse blowing but you may want to reroute the power wire that you have direct to the battery to connect it to the “downstream” side of the breaker. That way, when the breaker is off, there is no power to the head unit, SC, etc. My BIL always trips that breaker when he gets off the water to help ensure there is no unwanted battery drain.

Doesn’t matter which button I pushed. It would inconsistently work. IE: I would have to reset the switch if I hit more than 1 button or if i hit a button that had more of a power draw on it like the bilge, as soon as I hit a second button it would trip. Then after resetting the switch I would go back to say the livewell button and it would trip right away. I reset, go to say a lesser power draw like the fuel button and that would stay on, then to acc2, that would stay on then to a 3rd button like timer, then it would trip the switch again. I notice the main breaker switches are “soft” when I flip them. Not hard and crisp when I flip them. Not sure if that has anything to do with anything.
Yes, I did start moving wires around at the terminal, more so out of trial and error and became confused wondering if these terminal connections are linked to the acc 1,2,and 3. The Sructure scan was connected to acc3. I eventually unplugged the SS and then wired it to the HDS unit but not before connecting it to a spare positive and negative wire that were available under the console not being connected to anything. This is where I figured I had a constant power source without a switch and a possible reason why the battery had a drain on it. Thus the reason of trying to seek advice on how to wire it to the HDS unit and have it being able to be powered on and off there. Which is where you came in and helped me with that. Now I am back to having 3 acc’s with nothing connected to them because I’m not sure how to connect an accessory or device to it. My first guess is the positive and negative terminals under the console? If that is the case then I need to figure out why I keep tripping the breaker from the keypad buttons.
No manual came with the boat and when I downloaded one from Ranger, the wiring scheme is too overwhelming for me to comprehend.
I believe I have the power wire already “downstream” as when I turn off the breaker switch I don’t believe I have power to the console or the bow electronics or keypads.

Those accessory buttons have orange wires under the dash that should be marked (same for the ones on front panel fit that matter). Use the terminal block for the ground source for whatever you choose to run off the accessory switches. If they are no longer visibly marked then you will have to find something to trial and error the orange wires until you can determine which is which. I believe the wires are orange each with different color stripes which may help you in identifying them at fuse box possibly as well.

Thanks the_hat. That’s good to know.
I’ll get back at this project this coming weekend and will use these tips from both of you.
I’ll report back.